Suns pre-draft workout #3

[jbeecham]

College Stars Try Out for Suns

By Dustin Krugel, Suns.com
Posted: May 29, 2003

The Phoenix Suns worked out two of college basketball’s most decorated performers in Kansas power forward Nick Collison and Oregon point guard Luke Ridnour on Thursday morning.

Collison was a First Team All-America by the Associated Press and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year (coaches) as a senior, while Ridnour, an Honorable Mention All-America by AP as a sophomore and junior, was named the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year in 2002-03.

“They lived up to their billing without a doubt,” said Suns Assistant General Manager Mark West after the team held its third pre-draft workout at America West Arena, which also included Auburn swingman Marquis Daniels and Louisville center/forward Marvin Stone. “I think both of them will end up being very solid players in this league for quite a while.”

Both players are projected to be late-lottery, mid-first round selections in the 2003 NBA Draft on June 26 and the Suns own the 17th pick overall.

Collision is a rare four-year senior, who has increased his scoring and rebounding numbers each season, while consistently ranking among the leaders in field goal percentage.

“Nick is very fundamentally sound,” West noted of the 6-9 forward, who averaged 18.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in ‘02-03. “He does everything fairly well and will probably improve in a lot of different areas. He can put the ball on the floor a little bit. He rebounds strong in traffic. He defends tough. He can shoot the ball outside a little bit. He can post up. He can do everything well. He’s maybe a little like Tom Gugliotta, but maybe not the athlete that Tom has been throughout his career.”

Collision, who gutted out his third NBA tryout in the same number of days, played primarily in the post for the Jayhawks, but said he can play facing the basket, too.

“I’m a lot better off the dribble. I think I’ve shown it some (in the workouts),” said Collision, who concluded his career second in points to former Sun Danny Manning and third in career rebounds behind only Manning and Raef LaFrentz in school history. “For the most part at Kansas we tried to win and I think the best place for us to win was with me on the block.”

On Thursday Collison was named to the U.S. Men’s National Team along with Clippers forward Elton Brand and Nets forward Richard Jefferson. He trained with Team USA during the 2002 World Championships when Suns forward Shawn Marion was on the squad. The other much-ballyhooed prospect, Ridnour, was one of college basketball’s best playmakers the last two seasons before opting to forgo his senior year to enter the draft. The 6-2 guard has already signed with an agent and can’t take his name out of the draft.

“Luke comes as advertised, very quick,” West said of Ridnour, who became the first Ducks player in school history to be named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in ‘00-01. “He shoots the ball if you leave him open. He’ll drill his shot. He makes good decisions.”

Although the Suns are set at starter at the point guard position, the team is looking for a backup and Ridnour said he would love to be Stephon Marbury’s understudy in Phoenix.

“I think it would be awesome just to get a chance to play behind somebody like that, who is one of the best point guards in the league right now, and just kind of learn from him and just grow,” said Ridnour, who averaged 19.7 points and 6.7 assists as a junior.

Interestingly, Suns guard Casey Jacobsen played against both prospects in college. Phoenix’s second first-round choice in the 2002 draft gave a scouting report on each of them recently. Jacobsen’s college career at Stanford ended when Collision’s Jayhawks defeated the Cardinals in the Second Round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, 86-83. Collision finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.

“Collison is a good post player with a lot of moves and he can shoot from the outside, too,” said Jacobsen, “which is really important, I think, for a big guy in this league if you are not a super, super athlete like Amaré Stoudemire. You have to be able to hit jump shots from the outside, because otherwise you’re not going to be able to get to the basket.

“Nick Collison isn’t a super athlete like Amaré, but doesn’t rely on his athleticism to score. He’s got turnaround jumpers. He’s good.”

And on former Pac-10 rival Ridnour?

“He can play,” Jacobsen added. “He can shoot the heck out of it. Pretty stroke, too. He has beautiful form. He gets it off real quick, which is really important in this league, especially since he is small. That’s going to be the knock on him. Is he going to be big enough and is he going to be tall enough? He’s a short skinny guy.

“He can stay up with some of the point guards in the NBA, but the fact that he can get his jumper up will help him. That will be big-time for him. He can play in this league. I do think he’ll get picked in that first round. Where? Who knows?”

 

[jbeecham]

Nick Collison Q&A

One-on-One with Nick Collison


Posted: May 29, 2003

Fresh from being named to the 2003 USA Senior National Team, Kansas forward Nick Collison worked out for the Suns' brass on Thursday, his third trip to an NBA city since the pre-draft workouts tipped off last week. The former Mr. Iowa Basketball and consesus first-team All-American met with the media after showing his stuff on the AWA practice court.

Question: How did your workout go today?

Nick Collison: It went all right. Third one in three days, but it was actually came in pretty short and went after it so it wasn’t too bad.

Question: Where did you just come from?

Collison: It was in Golden State, then Seattle, then here.

Question: Are the workouts what you expected so far?

Collison: Yeah. Some are a lot different. Golden State was a lot of two-on-two, Seattle was a lot tougher. It was a lot more conditioning-type stuff and then here it was more of the two-on-two stuff. They’re all kind of different.

Question: Do you have any idea where you might wind up being drafted?

Collison: It’s tough to say. Hopefully I’ll be in the lottery, but you never know. Some guys say eight Europeans and eight foreigners in the top 20 so I could slip. As long as I get an opportunity to play I’ll be happy. If I play ball for a living it will be a pretty good situation no matter where I’m at.

Question: With the Suns having the 17th pick, are there still advantages just to let people see you?

Collison: Oh yeah, definitely. If you do slip farther than you thought, you don’t want to slip even more because they haven’t seen you. The workouts aren’t really that bad, so you come to do a lot of them. This is a great organization. This would be a great organization to be in so it wasn’t a problem coming here.

Question: What was it like playing with NBA players at the World Games, and specifically playing with Shawn Marion?

Collison: It was a learning experience definitely. I was very timid when I first got there but by the end of the week I really played hard and rebounded pretty well, kind of held my own. I’ve got a long ways to go to be at that level, but it was good for my confidence. Now, this summer I’ll play in summer leagues and in training camp I’ll feel more comfortable than I would have if I didn’t have that experience. Shawn, he was a great guy. There three or four of those guys that were really cool to me. I didn’t think any of them would talk to me at all being a college guy, but Shawn was one of the good guys. I still have his number and we keep in touch a little bit. He’s athletic, he’s unbelievable.

Question: What would it be like for you to play on the same team with Marion?

Collison: It would be great. This would be a great place to be. Great organization, good young team, made the playoffs, great city. This is one of the top organizations in the league from everything I hear. I’d like to go higher but if I end up here it would be fine too.

Question: Did you get to hang out with Marion in Indianapolis at all?

Collison: We had dinner a couple of times. There’s a lot of down time so we just kind of hung out.

Question: Did that experience give you the confidence that you could play in the NBA?

Collison: Definitely. I feel like I held my own for the most part. I feel like if I play hard, I definitely can play in this league.

Question: What is it like for you to play in a situation like this with the team’s management looking at you and taping your shot?

Collison: It’s really not that bad. Once you start playing you forget about it and you just kind of listen to the coach and play ball. I think the first one I went to, Golden State, I was a little nervous but after that it’s all right.

Question: How important is talking to the management and letting them get to know you?

Collison: I think that’s big for them. They want to see some more things on the court, but I think for the most part they just want to see what kind of person you are.

Question: Casey Jacobsen referred to you as “a good guy.” Do you know Casey?

Collison: I know him a little bit. I played on another USA team in college. He’s one of the guys I hung out with. He’s a good guy, good shooter. Really good shooter.

Question: What about your shot?

Collison: Getting better. I’ve got to get more consistent. I can do some things I didn’t really show at Kansas and that’s why these workouts are nice.

Question: What would say are your strengths and weaknesses?

Collison: Strengths, I just know how to play, I can do a lot of things. I do what it takes to win. I’ve won everywhere I’ve been. I lost one game in four years of high school. Great year, went to the Championship at Kansas, two Final Fours. I just do what it takes to win. If I it takes me playing inside rebounding, if it takes me spreading the floor and shoot I can do all those things. Weaknesses, I’ve got to get a little stronger, be more consistent with my shot. Those things will come in time.

Question: Do you consider yourself a power forward exclusively for the NBA?

Collison: Definitely, I’ll play the four. Maybe someday after a lot of hard work I could step out and play some small forward but defending those guys would be a tough thing. I think I could maybe do it offensively, but I’m not ready yet defensively to chase around those screens like that. The top guys in the league would be really tough.

Question: What are the things that you can do now that you couldn’t do at Kansas that you would be able to do in the NBA?

Collison: I’m a lot better off the dribble. I think I’ve shown it some. For the most part at Kansas we tried to win and I think the best place for us to win was with me on the block. Kirk (Hinrich) and (Jeff) Boschee shooting threes, so I can face up a lot more than I’ve shown. Shoot the ball more; handle it, that type of thing.

Question: Were you surprised you were picked for the USA team?

Collison: Yeah, I was. I think that’s a situation I’ve been playing for six years every summer I played. They know I’m going to go play hard and not complain and be a good role guy. There are a lot of guys probably more talented than me they could have picked but I think they know I’ll do a good job and it’s great for me. Great opportunity and it’s going to be fun.

Question: Is there a two-year commitment for USA basketball that they asked from you?

Collison: Right now it’s questionable. I think the three guys they added, they don’t know. Either way, it’s going to be great this summer. That would be unbelievable if I could play in the Olympics, but I don’t know about that. I don’t know if they’ll do that or not.

 

[jbeecham]

Q&A with Luke Ridnour

One-on-One with Luke Ridnour


Posted: May 29, 2003

The Phoenix Suns held their third pre-draft workout at America West Arena on Thursday, brining in four more prospects, including Oregon’s Luke Ridnour. The 6-2 point guard averaged 19.9 points, 6.7 assists and 3.3 boards a game his junior season for the Ducks.

Following his workout on the Suns’ practice court, the 22-year-old spoke with reporters about his showing, his college career and the upcoming draft.

Question: How did your workout go today?

Ridnour: It’s a lot of fun to be able to play with these guys and kind of see where the (Suns) players workout and get a chance to work out here. So it’s a lot of fun.

Question: It’s supposed to be a great year for point guards. There’s probably a large span there of where you could fall, depending on what teams are looking for.

Ridnour: Yeah, there are so many point guards who came out and a lot of teams need them so it’s hard to tell where you’re going to go. But it’s just exciting to be in this position and have a chance to get drafted.

Question: Did that influence you at all in coming out, knowing there were so many point guards in the draft?

Ridnour: No, not really. I mean I thought my stock was high enough that I had a pretty good chance to get drafted in the first round and I’ve just got to prove myself at each one of these workouts, and just have fun with it.

Question: Is it a case where you just want to let as many people as possible see you right now?

Ridnour: Yeah, there’s so much unknown right now. You don’t know what team is going to take whom. You just give yourself the best possible opportunity to work out for as many teams as you can, and give yourself a chance to get drafted by somebody.

Question: What are you trying to show or prove in these workouts?

Ridnour: I’m just trying to play like I always have and just have fun with it. I mean, I love to play, so I just want to show that and just have fun with it, and just play hard.

Question: What are your thoughts on possibly coming to Phoenix, where they already have an established point guard in Stephon Marbury.

Ridnour: Oh, I think it would be awesome just to get a chance to play behind somebody like that, who is one of the best point guards in the league right now, and just kind of learn from him and just grow.

Question: Can you describe your game for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?

Ridnour: I’ve got an uptempo game. I like to get in the open court and play, and just have fun. I play hard, but my game’s mostly in the open court, just making decisions and getting people the ball.

Question: Do you think last year’s tournament really put you on the map, in terms of publicity?

Ridnour: I think so. Just having our team do well and going deep into the tournament always helps you a lot. People get a chance to see you and I definitely think that helped me.

Question: What’s your workout schedule like? How many workouts have you done?

Ridnour: This is only my second one. I do a lot more after Chicago (Pre-Draft Camp). Probably like six or seven after Chicago.

Question: Golden State is the only other team you’ve worked out for?

Ridnour: Yeah, yesterday.

Question: When do you go to Seattle? They’ve got two picks, right? Ridnour: Yeah. It’s either the next couple days or right after Chicago. I’m not sure yet.

Question: We read online this morning that you were actually visiting Seattle today.

Ridnour: (Laughs) Not quite. Question: Is there an NBA player you can compare your game to?

Ridnour: Not really one player. I mean, I like Steve Nash a lot, just the way that he’s found ways to get the job done and been real effective at it. I always enjoyed watching (John) Stockton, but I don’t think there’s one person that I’ve really modeled myself after.

Question: We heard you were a big Pistol Pete fan.

Ridnour: Yeah, I loved Pistol growing up, just watching videos and trying to do the stuff he did with the ball.

Question: Can you do any of it?

Ridnour: Some of it (laughs). Not all of it.

Question: Have you had a chance to play with any NBA players or talk to any guys?

Ridnour: Just Freddie Jones. He was on my team and is with Indiana now. And (Brian) Scalabrine is from Washington and plays with the Nets now, and (Dan) Dickau, who’s with the Hawks, is from Washington. So all three of those guys I talk to quite a bit.

Question: Did they give you any advice or tell you what to expect in this whole process?

Ridnour: They said to just have fun with it, because it can get long. Just have fun with it and make sure you’re ready for each workout.

Question: You’ve played in some pressure situations, tournaments and such. What’s it like practicing in front of all of the big wigs with the video tape going and everything?

Ridnour: You just have to try to ignore that and play your game, and just focus on the playing the game. Everything will take care of itself.

Question: Are you hearing anything about where you might go in the draft?

Ridnour: I’m hearing anywhere from like seven to 17. So we’ll see.

Question: We heard you just joking with Mark West that they put you on the hot seat in the sit-down interview. Talk about that whole process.

Ridnour: Oh, they just ask you a bunch of questions about your background and where you’re from and stuff. I did alright (laughs).

 

[Chaplin]

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[jbeecham]

oops....sorry guys

 

[Chaplin]

Actually I apologize, I know how annoying it is when someone directs you to a thread like I did...